After Julien Gauthier lasted just one game on the fourth line before the Islanders lost patience with him, Liam Foudy was first in line to get a call-up from AHL Bridgeport.
Foudy, a former Blue Jacket and Nashville Predator, made his Islanders debut in Tuesday’s 1-0 loss against the Red Wings, skating alongside Kyle MacLean and Oliver Wahlstrom as a hastily assembled fourth line in the wake of Anthony Duclair’s injury.
“We only did a couple of drills,” Foudy said after a short morning skate Tuesday. “I’m sure that chemistry will come as we go tonight. I’m excited to play with them. Two good players. I’m excited to join that line.”
The fourth line — and the rest of the newly-assembled lines — followed a frustrating script in this loss to the Red Wings, getting chances and playing good defense, but failing to score.
The second line of Kyle Palmieri, Brock Nelson and Max Tsyplakov was the only one to stay untouched, with Simon Holmstrom replacing Anthony Duclair on the top line and Casey Cizikas replacing Holmstrom on the third.
“I thought they played really well,” coach Patrick Roy said after the loss. “Probably the next question is, did I thought to make some changes in my lines [during the game]? No. You’re making changes when you’re not playing a good game. … We dominated the game.”
Without Duclair no longer in the fold, the power-play units were reconstructed with Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat split up.
Mike Reilly quarterbacked one unit with Barzal and Simon Holmstrom on opposite circles, Brock Nelson at the bumper and Anders Lee at the net.
Noah Dobson quarterbacked the other, with Horvat and Kyle Palmieri at either circle, Jean-Gabriel Pageau in the bumper and Max Tsyplakov at the net.
In their first two opportunities, the Islanders moved the puck crisply on both units, constantly threatened and saw Nelson hit the crossbar.
The third, late in the third period, ended with boos from the stands as the Islanders failed to generate a shot on net.
With Duclair not on long-term injured reserve as of now, Pierre Engvall was not an option to be called up, as the Islanders cannot fit the extra $1.15 million on their cap.
It is not yet clear whether LTIR is an inevitability for Duclair or if the Islanders will avoid that — however, under their current constraints, they can only carry one healthy extra player, which right now is defenseman Dennis Cholowski.
Whether that setup remains tenable once the Islanders go on the road, with games in Columbus and Buffalo next week, is an open question.
But with call-ups easily accessible from Bridgeport, the Islanders can continue accruing cap space for the time being without Duclair on LTIR.
General manager Lou Lamoriello told MSG in a pregame interview that there would be a further update on Duclair “over the next 48 hours.”
